SOUTHWEST AIRLINES:

Low-cost air carrier plans transcontinental non-stops

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines Co., the low-cost carrier that made its fortune by flying short hops, said Tuesday that it will begin non-stop cross-country flights in September.

The airline said it will offer a $99 one-way fare on two daily flights between Baltimore and Los Angeles beginning Sept. 15. It hopes the new route will attract business travelers, who have been flying less out of economic concerns. Southwest also said it would begin daily non-stop flights between St. Louis and Las Vegas the same day and would add several daily flights along the East Coast in October.

"The timing was just right to do this," said spokesman Ed Stewart. "We had already said we weren't going to be adding a new city on our routes, we were going to be connecting the dots."

Southwest said it would operate the new flights by taking delivery of four Boeing 737s that it had put off, bringing its fleet to 370 planes.

Stewart said the carrier will add other long flights, though he declined to be specific. "You're going to see more of that in the mix," he said, "but only where it makes sense. We're not going to leave our niche. We're still a short-haul, high-frequency carrier."

More than 80 percent of the airline's flights are 750 miles or less. Southwest was the only one of the eight largest U.S. carriers to post a profit in both the fourth quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of this year.